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JENNIFER CANIPE AUBYN FULTON
PACIFIC UNION COLLEGE
It is commonly believed that biracial young adults (BYA's) are more likely to have poor relationships with their parents (Lyles, 1985). On the other hand, empirical studies of clinical biracial populations have suggested that BYAs suffer from no more problems than their monoracial counterparts (Brown, 1991). The current study directly examines the relationship between non-clinical black/white BYAs and their parents. It was hypothesized that parental closeness would be correlated with similarity of skin color and racial identification. Twenty-six questionnaires were obtained from 7 "black", 10 "white" and 10 "biracial" participants. Results showed that the more a BYA identified as "black" the closer they felt to their black parent (r = .71, p = .02); the more BYA's identified as "white" the less close they felt to their white parent
(r = -.66, p = .04) and the more BYA's identified as "biracial" the closer they felt to their white
parent (r = .74, p = .02). These and other results were discussed in terms of hypodescent and the
greater potential stress that may exist in the relationship between BYAs and their white parent.
Purpose Of Study
This study was designed to examine the relationship between biracial young adults (BYAs) and
their parents. Unlike monoracial young adults (MYA's), BYAs may have a significantly different
racial appearance and racial identification than one or both of their parents.
Conclusions From Clinical Studies
It is commonly suggested that children of interracial relationships are more likely to suffer from a
variety of problems (e.g. Gibbs, 1987). Observations of clinical samples have concluded that
BYAs have problems with racial identity confusion, low self-esteem, ambivalence toward family,
parental rejection, and psychological functioning (Gibbs, 1989).
Conclusions From Non-Clinical Studies
More recent studies, using more representative samples, present a more positive picture of BYAs
(Brown, 1991). They indicate that BYAs do not have any more problems than MYAs. Rather
than experiencing racial confusion, many BYAs appear to identify with both of their racial
heritages. Other studies have found that biracial children have equivalent or higher self-esteem
compared to MYAs (Jacobs, 1978).
Two Theories of BYA/Parent Relationships
There are at least two possible theories for how and why parental relationships may be different
for BYAs. What might be called a "similarity" theory notes that BYA's unlike MYAs are likely
to be dissimilar from one or both parents in racial appearance (e.g. skin color) and racial
identification. This may lead to disruption in the relationship with the less similar parent. What
might be called a "status" theory (see Gibbs, 1989; Sebring, 1985) suggests that BYAs may
identify more closely with their white parent because of the perceived higher status of white race
in America, rejecting their black parent even if there is a closer physical resemblance.
BYAs will have a closer relationship to the parent they are most similar to in terms of skin
color.
2. BYAs will have a closer relationship to the parent they are most similar to in terms of racial identification.
BYA "black" racial identification will be positively correlated with closeness to the "black" parent.
BYA "white" racial identification will be positively correlated with closeness to the
"white" parent.
Participants
It is difficult to get a random sample of BYA's; demographic data from educational, employment
and other settings rarely if ever include a category for "biracial" or its equivalents. Participants for
this study were recruited in four ways. One, a booth was set up in high traffic areas at several
California colleges and universities that advertised for students who had one black and one white
parent. Respondents were given a questionnaire to complete on the spot, or a self-addressed,
stamped envelope to return at their leisure. Second, advertisements for young adults with one
black and one white parent were placed in numerous college campus newspapers. Third,
advertisements were placed on several bulletin boards and computer lists dedicated to racial and
multiracial issues on the World Wide Web. Fourth, volunteers were recruited from students
enrolled in lower division general education courses at several California public and private
institutions. Monoracial black and monoracial white participants were recruited in similar ways.
Apparatus
A questionnaire consisting of five items was developed including questions about participants'
racial identification (black, white, or biracial), their parents race, the closeness of their relationship
to each parent, a description of their and their parents skin color, and how long they lived with
each parent. These questions were part of a larger questionnaire.
Procedure
Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire as accurately as possible, and if completed
later, to return it in a self-addressed, self-stamped envelope at their own convenience
A total of 53 completed questionnaires were returned (19 self-described black, 13 white and 21
biracial participants). As this study focused on the parental relationships of young adults,
participants who had lived with either parent for less than 10 years were screened out. This left
27 total participants (7 black, 10 white and 10 biracial). All ten of the biracial participants had a
black father and a white mother.
Table 1 summarizes an analysis that was performed on a subset of the sample including only the
ten biracial participants. Pearson-product moment correlation coefficients were calculated on the
two dependent variables of paternal and maternal closeness and five independent variables
(identification as black, white, and biracial, and two difference scores reflecting the participants'
perception of the difference between their skin color and that of both their father and their
mother).
Contrary to the hypotheses of the study, there were no significant correlations between the
similarity of the participants skin color to their parents skin color and the closeness of their
relationship with that parent. However, as predicted, racial identification did correlate significantly
with parental closeness. Consistent with the hypothesis, the more BYAs identified as "black" the
closer their relationship was with their black parent (r = .71, p = .02). The more BYA's identified
as "white" the less close they reported their relationship to be with their white parent (r = -.66, p
= .04). Interestingly, the more BYA's identified as "biracial" the closer their relationship was with
their white parent (r =.74, p = .02).
Parental closeness was measured on a 7-point likert scale, with higher values indicating greater
closeness. There was no significant race-group difference for paternal closeness (black M = 6.5;
white M = 5.2; biracial M = 5.44) F(2,26) = 2.23, p = .13. There was a significant difference for
maternal closeness, with biracial participants reporting less closeness(M = 4.56) than either black
(M = 6.63) or white (M = 6.1) participants, F(2,26) = 8.35, p = .002) .
Main Findings
Results from the current study provide mixed support for what we have termed the "Similarity"
account of BYA-Parent relationships. While similarity of skin color was not correlated with
parental closeness, similarity of racial identification was in some cases. Interestingly, while a
"black" identification was correlated with closeness to the "black" parent, a "white" identification
was negatively correlated with closeness to the "white" parent. However, a biracial identity was
positively correlated with closeness to the "white" parent.
Other results from this study cast doubt on the "Status" account of BYA-parental relationships.
BYA's were no more or less close to their black fathers than MYAs were to their fathers; while
BYA's were actually less close to their white (presumably higher status) mothers than MYA's
were to their mothers.
Limitations
There are several significant limitations to the current study. It is a cross-sectional, correlational
study that permits no inference about the casual direction of any of the associations reported. The
sample is small and convenient. The sample was also relatively educated and affluent (mean
income for the three racial groups ranged from $56,250.00 to $67,222). However, on the five
demographic variables accounted for (family income, participant age, and educational level for the
participants and each parent) the only racial group difference was for paternal education, with the
fathers of white and biracial participants having more years of education than the fathers of black
participants. We believe that these results can be cautiously generalized to middle class, well
educated BYAs who self-identify as "biracial". A serious limitation of this study is the absence of
a group of BYA's with black mothers and white fathers. Such a group would have helped
disentangle the confound between gender and race. It is not clear from the current data whether
the more distant relations reported by BYAs with their white mothers, relative to the other racial
groups, is a function of that parent's gender or race.
Hypodescent
The problematic nature of BYA relationships with their white parents may seem surprising at first
in light of social stigmatization of the black parent, but appears to make sense in light of a wide-spread social norm known as "hypodescent" or the "one-drop rule" (see, for example, Zack,
1995). Under this norm individuals inherit the lowest status racial designation of either parent.
Colloquially, one need only be perceived as having "one-drop" of "black blood" to be perceived
as being black (the lowest status racial designation in the United States). Notions of hypodescent
have influenced both legal and informal social constructions of race in this country for centuries,
and though originally an outgrowth of doctrines of racial purity, have been widely accepted by
both white and black communities (Zack, 1995).
In the context of hypodescent, the possibility that BYA's may have more problematic relationships with their white parent seems less surprising. Black/white BYA's are most likely to be perceived by both the white and the black communities as being "black". Thus the relationship with the black parent may more likely be viewed, by both the social environment and BYAs themselves, as more or an "in-group" relationship, while the relationship with the white parent may more likely be viewed as a "cross-group" relationship. In this context it is interesting that the racial identification that predicted the closest relationship to the white parent was not a "white" identification (which may appear too much in conflict with notions of racial identity rooted in hypodescent) but a "biracial" identification, which may provide a means of bridging the perceived gap between the racial status of "white" and "non-white".
Table 1
Correlations Between Parental Closeness, Racial Identifications and Skin Color Difference
Closeness to Father Closeness to Mother
DS 1 -- .07
DS2 .44 --
Identification as White -.17 -.66*
Identification as Black .71* -.40
Identification as Biracial -.17 .74*
Note. * < .05. DS1 = Difference Score 1 (Mother's skin color minus participant's skin color).
DS2 = Difference Score 2 (Father's skin color minus participant's skin color). N = 10. Data in
this table only for biracial participants, whose fathers were all black and mothers all white.